Paes returns to top-50, singles players slide

Paes, who reached the final in Dubai with Jamie Cerretani last week, jumped to 46, two places behind Divij Sharan (44).

Leander Paes returned to top-50 with a six-place jump following his runner-up show at the ATP Dubai event.

Leander Paes returned to top-50 with a six-place jump following his runner-up show at the ATP Dubai event while India’s top singles players slid in the latest rankings, issued on Monday.

Paes, who reached the final in Dubai with Jamie Cerretani last week, jumped to 46, two places behind Divij Sharan (44), who gained one place. Rohan Bopanna was unchanged at number 20.

Purav Raja was next best at number 62 (loss of one place) while Vishnu Vardhan reached a career-best doubles rank of 99 having gained one place.

In the singles, Yuki Bhambri lost five places to slide to 110 and was followed by Ramkumar Ramanathan (135, -2), Sumit Nagal (223, -3) and left-handed Prajnesh Gunneswaran (235, -3).

In the women’s rankings, Ankita Raina lost five places to be placed 255 and was followed by Karman Kaur Thandi, who moved up three places to career-best 278.

In the doubles, injured Sania Mirza was unchanged at number 13 while Prarthna Thombare dropped two places to 141.